Social responsiveness and competence in Prader-Willi syndrome: direct comparison to autism spectrum disorder.
Kids with Prader-Willi mUPD look just as socially impaired as kids with ASD on the SRS, so screen and plan social interventions accordingly.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dimitropoulos et al. (2013) compared social skills in people with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
They used the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) to score social problems. They split the PWS group by genetic type: mUPD or deletion.
The goal was to see which PWS subtype looks most like ASD on social tests.
What they found
The mUPD group scored just as high on the SRS as the ASD group. High scores mean more social trouble.
The deletion group did a little better on prosocial items, but still showed clear problems.
How this fits with other research
Dimitropoulos et al. (2019) extends these findings to preschoolers. They watched kids play and saw the same pattern: mUPD PWS looked like ASD, deletion PWS looked better.
Ogata et al. (2018) adds that autistic-like behaviors in PWS drop after age 30, but food issues stay. This aging effect was not in the 2013 paper.
Saima et al. (2022) links sensory problems to ASD-like behaviors in adults with PWS. Together, the four papers show social risk is highest in mUPD, can be spotted early, and may lessen with age.
Why it matters
If you work with PWS, run the SRS and note the genetic subtype. mUPD cases need the same social teaching you give kids with ASD. Use visual supports, role-play, and peer modeling. Track sensory issues too—they feed into social stress. Plan early and keep supports in place even if behaviors ease later.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a neurodevelopmental disorder primarily characterized by hyperphagia and food preoccupations, is caused by the absence of expression of the paternally active genes in the proximal arm of chromosome 15. Although maladaptive behavior and the cognitive profile in PWS have been well characterized, social functioning has only more recently been systematically examined. Findings to date indicate the social impairment exhibited may reflect specific difficulty interpreting and using social information effectively. In addition, evidence suggests that there is an increased risk of social deficits in people with the maternally-derived uniparental disomy (mUPD) subtype of PWS in comparison to those with 15q11-13 paternal deletion (DEL). Using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and the Social Competence Inventory, our goal was to compare social functioning in PWS to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants with mUPD scored similarly to the ASD group across most SRS domains. All groups had difficulty with social competence, although the DEL group scored highest on prosocial behavior. Findings suggest further characterization of social behavior in PWS is necessary to aid in advancing the understanding of the contributions of genes in the 15q11-13 critical region to ASD susceptibility, particularly with respect to the overexpression of maternally expressed genes in this region, as well as aiding in awareness and development/implementation of interventions.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2013 · doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1547-3